


Irusu

by majime



Category: Golden Child (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Golden Child - Freeform, Hate to Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-01 03:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13286025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/majime/pseuds/majime
Summary: Incheon University’s baseball varsity team gets a new member who also happens to be Sungyoon’s seemingly cocky roommate.Jangjun just wants to make a friend out of his roommate, but one mistake leads the said roommate to be on a mission to make his life miserable.





	1. First Impression

**CHAPTER 1**  
_First Impression_

The hot summer days that were spent lazing around the house while eating everything edible in sight are over. Leaves have turned gold and brown, while the temperature drops several degrees lower especially during the evenings. The wind is becoming a little stronger, urging the people to dress more modestly. Most importantly, the youngsters are preparing to return to school for a brand new year. One of the students getting ready is Choi Sungyoon. He sits at the edge of his bed, folding his socks while his suitcase lays wide open on the wooden floor of his bedroom. As he puts yet another pair of socks inside the gray suitcase, he hears his mother’s footsteps approaching his open door. Sungyoon looks up, just in time to see her entering with all his uniforms.

“Your regular uniform, winter uniform, gym uniform, and your baseball uniform. You only have two sets of your school uniform, so make sure you do your laundry everyday,” Sungyoon’s mother, Hyerim, says as she places them neatly on the bed next to Sungyoon.

“Thank you, eomma,” Sungyoon softly says, picking up the uniforms and carefully rolling them so they could fit in the suitcase.

She watches him fit all the clothes he would need inside the suitcase and lets out a smile that is a mixture of many emotions: mostly happiness, a handful of pride, a dash of longing and a hint of sadness. Her youngest is already at his third year in the university. For two years, he had been living away from home to study at the university and yet, Hyerim still cannot quite wrap her head around the fact that her youngest child is all grown up, and would be starting his junior year at the university. She still gets emotional whenever she sees him packing every start of the school year. Sure, Sungyoon gets to come home during the winter holidays, but him coming home everyday after school can never compare to that. Among her three children, Sungyoon is the youngest and yet he is the one who took the chance to study somewhere far from home. Hyerim, however, was not surprised at all. Sungyoon may be her baby, but he is also quite the dreamer and the fighter of the family.

“Eomma?” 

Hyerim blinks back her tears and puts her focus back on Sungyoon who is now looking at her with a worried expression.

“Yes, dear? You were saying something?” Hyerim says.

“Don’t cry again when you and appa drop me off later at the train station,” Sungyoon repeats. 

“Me? Crying? When did I ever cry when I was dropping you off, Sungyoon?” Hyerim jokes.

This solicits a bright laugh from Sungyoon, and Hyerim marvels at the melodious sound. 

“Every single time, eomma,” Sungyoon reminds her with a mischievous grin. “Please don’t cry again. You know I cannot hold back my tears when I see you crying.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll try my best not to cry later, but don’t you dare blame me when I couldn’t!” Hyerim says. “I can’t help it whenever I see you growing more and more. You’re not eomma’s little baby anymore.” 

Sungyoon puts an arm around her shoulder and pulls her into an affectionate hug. “Eomma~ I might not be little anymore, but I’m still your baby!” 

Upon hearing that coming from her son, Hyerim really could not hold back the tears anymore, so she just lets the floodgates open and out comes her tears. While crying, she is dramatically retelling every milestone of Sungyoon’s life that she could remember just to emphasize her point of how fast time is flying, and how her baby is growing up too fast. Sungyoon patiently listens to his mother, still holding her in a loose hug. The whole morning is spent that way until it is time for Sungyoon to go to the train station.

••• 

Starting his first year in the university on the opposite side of the country, Lee Jangjun’s heart has been beating in his throat for the past week leading up to this day. As their shiny black family car drives into the tall gates of Incheon University, he cannot help but gape at the picturesque view of the property, complete with blue skies, rolling hills and gorgeous low-rise buildings. He clutches his baseball glove tightly in his hands upon seeing a glimpse of the baseball field. Slightly hidden behind the left side of the grand main building of the campus, the field still looks magnificent to him and Jangjun can almost hear it enticingly calling to him. Junpyo, the family’s butler, soon pulls up in front of the dormitories that is located a good five minutes away from the main campus.

“Young master, your father asked me to give this to you,” Junpyo says, while carefully presenting a small black velvet box to Jangjun. “He regrets that his meeting has to be on the same day as your first day of school, but he wishes you all the best in your new endeavor as a university student.”

With a sigh, he takes the small box from Junpyo and gingerly opens it. Inside is an oval-shaped locket attached to a white-gold necklace, and when he opens the locket, he finds the picture of his late mother side-by-side with their old family picture. He immediately feels hot tears prickling in his eyes. It has been five years since the sudden death of Jangjun’s mother and yet, the eighteen-year-old still feels like it happened only yesterday. Ever since his mother’s death, his father has been mostly absent in his life. Jangjun understands that his father keeping himself busy is the only coping mechanism that he came to adopt after his wife’s passing, but that does not mean that Jangjun is not hurt whenever they can’t have meals together or whenever he can’t attend an important school event.

Blinking back tears, Jangjun puts on his signature smile, wide and blindingly bright. He puts the necklace back in its box before grabbing his backpack and cheerfully getting out of the car. Jangjun stretches, arms reaching up high to the heavens as he groans contently. 

“It’s not even my first day of school yet, Junpyo! Classes won’t start until Monday, so tell father he could still come visit me until then!” Jangjun says. “That is, if he’s not too busy! If he can’t make it, tell him to just send me more pocket money, okay?”

Junpyo lets out a relieved laugh upon seeing that Jangjun is back to his noisy self. 

“I will, young master,” Junpyo says. 

In no time, all of Jangjun’s stuff have already been unloaded out of the car and now, Junpyo is having a small argument with the staff at the front desk while Jangjun awkwardly stands at the side. As the two adults in front of him argue, he can’t do anything but to look around the lobby of the dormitories. It definitely isn’t like the lobbies of the grand hotels that he had been to, Jangjun finds it to be elegant and homey in its own way. The walls are painted a simple white with sepia accents. In place of a crystal chandelier, the lobby instead has two antique-looking ceiling fans. There are decent-sized magenta couches littered with black throw pillows and a threadbare carpet that looks clean but also seems like it’s been there for at least a decade. To the right of the frontdesk, there’s a hallway leading to the stairs and quite possibly to the elevators that’ll take you to the dormitories. Before entering the hallway, however, a shelf is located, containing neatly organized brochures, maps, and magazines. Jangjun, having lost his interest at the bickering, makes his way to the shelves and inspects its contents. 

“I know that you requested for Jangjun to have a room to himself, but I’m afraid it’s the university’s policy to have the varsity team members to be roomed together. Your son also got in the university through the varsity scholarship, so it really is a must for him to share a room with a teammate to promote camaraderie,” Jangjun hears the woman saying in the background as he grabs a copy of the campus map. 

He gives it a once over before proceeding to get a very informative map about the area surrounding the campus. Jangjun grins in delight when he realizes that whoever made the map took their time to mark places that students would be interested in visiting (like restaurants, arcades, cafes, shopping centers, and of course, bars).

“We called the university administration over a month ago regarding the request, and they said that they would see what they can do. Now, what is this policy you’re talking about? They did not mention anything about such policy when we called!” Junpyo complains, completely ignoring the fact that the lady thought he is Jangjun’s father. 

“Exactly, sir. The administration themselves said that they would _see_ what they can do. They did not say yes since it is still within our discretion if we would allow such thing. We would've approved it if it’s for health purposes, but other than that, I’m afraid that no one is exempted from this policy.”

When Jangjun is done collecting useful information materials from the shelf, he walks back to the two adults. He notices that Junpyo is starting to look red from anger, so he decides to step in.

“Junpyo hyung, it’s okay! I don’t mind sharing a room with one of my teammates! It would be more fun that way!” Jangjun says. 

“But young master, your father specifically requested that you have your own room. If he finds out that--”

“Then he doesn’t have to find out, Junpyo hyung,” Jangjun says.

“Young master…” Junpyo says. 

“It’s okay, it’ll be fun to make a friend out of my roommate, right?” 

Despite him not being fully okay with the idea, Junpyo lets out a resigned sigh. 

“Alright, alright, but if you don’t like having a roommate, just give me a call. I’m sure your father won’t mind renting an apartment in the area for you.”

“Eyyy, don’t be silly, hyung! When did I ever not like having people around me, huh?”

“I know, but just in case,” Junpyo says, looking at Jangjun worriedly, “If you need anything, anything at all, just give me a call.”

Jangjun giggles at that, “Okay, Junpyo hyung, I promise to call you when I run out of toilet paper!” 

“Be strong, young master! Make lots of friends,” Junpyo says, laughing.

After saying their goodbyes, Junpyo leaves and Jangjun walks back to the front desk.

“Sorry for any inconvenience we caused you today! He can be a little uptight and overprotective sometimes, so I beg you to pardon him,” Jangjun says, smiling apologetically at the woman. “I’m really fine with sharing a room with someone else.”

“No worries, Jangjun. I encounter parents who are worse than your hyung. But I can totally understand why he dotes on you! You’re such a cutie!” she says. “I’m Jina, by the way. I’m head supervisor of the dormitories.”

Jangjun feels his face heating up a little at the compliment, but he hides it with a confident laugh and thanks her. A couple more of introductory exchanges later, Jina finally gives him his room number and his key along with a personal data sheet that he needs to fill up since he is a freshman. Jangjun hauls his belongings up to the third floor of the dormitory (because, apparently, elevators do not exist here despite the university’s prestige) and by the time he gets in front of the room, he is already a sweaty mess. He huffs, wiping the sweat off his brows with the back of his arm and unlocks the front door of what he would call home for the next four years. His mouth stretches into a wide grin upon seeing that the dorm’s living room is not as spacious as his house’s living room, but not too cramped either. Sure, the alabaster walls paired with light cerulean accents for the furniture, doors and cabinets look relatively gloomy, but the thought of having a roommate just keeps making Jangjun feel extra optimistic about attending a university located many miles away from his hometown. If he and his roommate fill up the shelves and the fridge with food, pictures and other homey stuff, the place would become their little cozy nest. 

“Excuse me,” a quiet voice suddenly says, effectively making Jangjun jump in surprise.

Knowing that his roommate is finally here, Jangjun quickly turns around with a friendly smile. Standing in front of him is a black-haired boy who looks well-built despite being a couple of centimeters shorter than himself. The other male has an unreadable expression on his intimidatingly handsome face, but this does not deter Jangjun’s spirit.

“Hello!” Jangjun greets, dropping the formality altogether after assuming that the shorter is also a freshman like him, “I’m Lee Jangjun! I’m your roommate, I’m in block 1-L2, so obviously, I’m a Literature major! How about you?”

Jangjun has the brightest, most blinding smile he can muster, but after introducing himself, Jangjun notices that the boy’s unreadable expression morphed into something akin to reproachful. 

“I’m Choi Sungyoon, block _3-A1_ ,” Choi Sungyoon says in a low voice.

Realizing that he just spoke informally to someone two years older than him, Jangjun’s stomach drops at once and his palms start to sweat. One of the tips that Junpyo gave him on how to be well-liked by the people on campus is that he should be very respectful to the sunbaes. No matter how undeserving they are of his respect, even if they seem dumb or moochy, Jangjun should be nearly kissing the ground whenever he greets them. At first, Jangjun doesn’t like the idea of having to respect someone just because of their age, but he quickly pushed his own opinion out of his mind when Junpyo said that knowing a sunbae can prove to be quite useful. It’s more vital in Jangjun’s case since he is part of a school team. There are bound to be team members who are sunbaes, so he should really make a good impression if he wants them to guide him and keep the bullies away. 

But because it’s Jangjun and he sometimes forgets to pack some sense in his brain, immediately makes a fool of himself, so now, the third year is regarding him with those sharp eyes and Jangjun feels his face heat up in extreme embarrassment. 

“I-I’m sorry, sunbae-nim,” Jangjung stutters out while bowing frantically and repeatedly to the point that he looks like a silly pigeon pecking the ground in search for food. 

Saying nothing and merely shaking his head wordlessly, Sungyoon moves past Jangjun with his luggage. The older makes sure that he pointedly bumps Jangjun's shoulder as he moves past him. Jangjun winces at the collision and rubs his shoulder as he watches Sungyoon disappear into the only bedroom, the bedroom they will be sharing for the whole school year. The moment the door shuts with a firm click behind Sungyoon, Jangjun’s legs that suddenly became jelly causes him to fall on the floor. He dramatically rests the back of his hand on his forehead, berating himself for being such an idiot.

_It hasn’t even been an hour since I arrived here and I already managed to make my roommate hate me!_

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

Weeks before the new school year started, Sungyoon was told that he should expect to have a roommate this time around. For the past two years, he had been lucky enough to have the dorm to himself; his teammates and classmates, especially those who didn’t fancy their roommates, were jealous that he didn’t have to share the place with someone else. Sungyoon, of course, has always been grateful of this. Sungyoon has lots of friends and acquaintances due to his attractive physique and his position as one of the most valuable players in the university’s baseball team, however, none of them knows that Sungyoon thinks of himself as mostly introverted. He appreciates the attention and the company during the day, but it can definitely become draining and having a flat all to himself is a great way to recharge, so receiving an email from the school about the new roommate certainly did make Sungyoon squirm and restless for a few days. His coach then contacted him and informed him that his new roommate is also the newly recruited member of their baseball team who also happens to be a freshman.

That piece of information just completely turned Sungyoon against the idea of his new roommate, because the last time the team recruited a freshman, the bloke turned out to be such an arrogant prick. Just because he was personally scouted and offered a varsity scholarship by their coach, this freshman didn’t bother to attend practices regularly. He claimed that he was already really good and that he only needed minimal training. In addition, he also boasted that he had photographic memory so he also didn’t need to attend his classes regularly as well. Sungyoon remembered how the whole team, including himself, loathed that arrogant git. Luckily, their coach kicked him out of the team after he failed all of his classes. Sungyoon feared that his new roommate will also turn out to be a real asshole too, but his noona told him to remain impartial and keep his prejudice at bay until he actually meets the guy in person. He took her advice and he even brought some board games in the hopes that they can bond over those.

But now that they finally met in person, that Jangjun guy proved how right Sungyoon had been all along.

With a scowl, Sungyoon opens his duffle bag and starts unpacking his clothes. He walks over to the drawers and starts filling in the spaces only to stop midway upon realizing that he now has to share the space with that annoying boy. He makes a mental note to see if he can talk to Jina later to ask for a new roommate. For now, he grudgingly removes his undies from the second drawer and cramps all of them in the first drawer. He’s just in the middle of folding his socks when his insufferable roommate knocks on the door.

“Hyung-nim…” says the muffled voice of Lee Jangjun through the other side of the door. “C-Can I come in?” 

Sungyoon’s scowl grows bigger at the voice, but lets out a halfhearted grunt of approval. A few moments passes by before the door hesitantly opens. Jangjun’s bashful face peeks in first and Sungyoon could see the way the other flinches slightly when he looks at him with a glare through his dark bangs. 

“H-Hello, hyung-nim. I’m so sorry for the disrespect a while ago. I didn’t know you were a third year…” Jangjun says, bowing in apology.

Sungyoon barely acknowledges him, but he could see the determination on Jangjun’s face.

“It’s not good to have an awkward relationship between roommates, don’t you think? I want to be friends with you! I hope we can move past it and start over, hyung-nim!” Jangjun say, smiling a thousand megawatt smile that really gets on Sungyoon’s nerves. 

Sungyoon hates this type of person—someone who can’t, for the life of them, take a hint that their friendship is not wanted. Staying firm, Sungyoon merely continues to fold his socks without even sparing Jangjun a look. But just like what he thought, Jangjun is _that_ type of person and to Sungyoon’s annoyance, Jangjun waddles over with his heavy luggage in tow before he holds out his right hand for Sungyoon to shake. 

_Pft, as if I would shake your hand,_ Sungyoon grumpily thinks as he glares at the hand. 

“Hyung-nim, come on, don’t be annoyed at Jjang-jjyu-niii~ don’t be mad at cute, cute, Jjang-jjyu-niii~”

_Did...did he just do aegyo?_

Sungyoon slowly lifts his head to show his murderous stare. Jangjun, being the idiot that he is, still has his index fingers poking his inflated cheeks. 

“You’re quite cocky, aren’t you?” Sungyoon says through gritted teeth.

The terrifying look on Sungyoon’s face deflates Jangjun’s cheeks and his hands fall at his side at once. All he wants to do is hide under his bed because those eyes can seriously kill him, but he bravely looks into Sungyoon’s eyes to show how sincere he was when he said he wanted the two of them to be friends. Unfortunately, Sungyoon takes this as a sign of defiance. 

“My patience is running out, so listen carefully and get this through your thick head. I don’t want or need your friendship. Know your place, stay there and don’t bother me.” 


	2. Difficult

**CHAPTER 2:**  
_Difficult_

The rest of the afternoon after the incident is spent unpacking in complete silence. Jangjun cannot believe that Sungyoon hates his guts right away just because of that one mistake. It also isn’t like he committed something seriously grave! He mentally sulks about it whilst folding his clothes and situating his personal belongings on his side of the room. In the middle of putting on his own sheets on his bed, Jangjun bitterly remembers his father telling him that he just needs to be himself and people will surely like him. He scoffs at that because he did just that about an hour ago and look where it landed him. He looks over his shoulder to sneak a glance at Sungyoon only to be shocked when he sees that the other is no longer there. All of Sungyoon’s things are already unpacked, his luggage put away, and bed neatly made with fresh sheets. Jangjun pouts as his mood plummets even more at the thought that his roommate sneaked out like a freaking ninja without him noticing. But then again, they’re not really on good terms, so Sungyoon isn’t obliged to tell Jangjun when he’ll leave and where he’ll go.

This isn’t how Jangjun imagined his first day at the university at all! 

While he was looking at the very informative map earlier at the lobby, he already planned that he would ask his roommate to grab a snack somewhere hip and trendy, then explore the area before going back to the university cafeteria for dinner—that is if his roommate doesn’t want to go to a club to party before the classes officially starts. He even prepared the things that he would say about himself and the things he would ask about his roommate! 

“Just my luck,” Jangjun mutters under his breath. 

It takes him another ten minutes before he’s finally completely done with unpacking. It’s already late in the afternoon and his stomach is not happy for having to skip lunch. The breakfast Chef Park prepared for him that morning before he left already feels so far away from the present. Oh, the things he’ll give just to eat dinner made by Chef Park. Unfortunately, his reality for the next ten or so months in this university does not include hot, home-cooked meals by Chef Park. He needs to be independent and feeding himself is the first thing that he should learn. After pushing his now empty luggage under the bed for storage, Jangjun takes out his wallet and the informatic map. As he heads out of the dorm, he thinks of the two missions that he needs to accomplish tonight: find somewhere to eat and find a friend. 

The lonely pathway towards the main gates of the campus is made a little worse by the occasional blowing of the wind. With his hands in his pockets, Jangjun longingly looks at the groups of students walking around the campus grounds, talking to their friends animatedly. He bitterly laughs at how pathetic he must appear to others right now. If strangers see him and if they’re going to judge him. Half of him feels a little embarrassed especially if someone from his high school sees him here being a loner. The other half, however, doesn’t really want to care what others think of him. He has other things to feel sad about anyway. 

_I have no friends!_

Jangjun miserably groans when he recalls that Sungyoon is also a part of the baseball team. Being older than Jangjun, it is likely that he already has an established friendship with the rest of the older members of the team. To make matters worse, Sungyoon is undeniably good-looking and hot. There’s no way that someone like that isn’t popular. Being on Sungyoon’s bad side is just so bad for Jangjun’s PR!

“I’ll be a loser. I’ll be an outcast. I’ll be that guy nobody ever talks to because the cool kids hate me,” Jangjun whines when he finally makes it through the campus’ main gates.

The deserted road ahead of him halts his self-pitying thoughts. Jangjun stupidly looks around, confused on where he should go now. He’s accustomed to having Junpyo at his beck and call whenever he wants to go somewhere, so venturing out into the wilderness like this is completely foreign and scary to him. After a few seconds of just standing there like a complete imbecile, another gust of wind hits him, rustling the map he’s holding. 

_Right, the map. I have a map._

He studies it for about five minutes before he finally realizes that he still has to take a shuttle of some sort to get to the city’s center. Jangjun looks a little to his right and sees that there is a waiting shed across the street. On the roof of the shed, in big bold letters, a sign says _Shuttle to the Center_. Well, that’s pretty convenient. Jangjun grins triumphantly and speed walks towards the shed. Seeing on an electronic notice board that he still has to wait six minutes before the next shuttle arrives, Jangjun perches on the bench, hands patiently clasped together. He’s glad that the university made it easier for the students to go to the center of the city. If he has to use the complicated subway or ride a specific public bus, Jangjun is sure that he’s going to get lost. 

_At least things are starting to look up,_ Jangjun thinks with a smile. 

That little glimmer of hope, however, is stunted as soon as it sprouted. Not far from where he is, Jangjun spots a group of students walking towards the shuttle waiting shed. He can hear their loud and excited voices as they discuss what they did over the holidays. But their loudness and their rowdiness are not what made Jangjun nervous. What makes him apprehensive is the fact that among these guys is Sungyoon. Unlike his friends, Sungyoon is just silently listening to his friends’ stories, smiling or laughing when he needs to. As Sungyoon and his group of friends make it to where he is, Jangjun catches the Sungyoon’s eyes, but the younger quickly looks away. 

_Know your place, stay there and don’t bother me._

Sungyoon’s words are ringing through Jangjun’s mind and at first, he’s really determined to do just that. He makes himself as small as possible, so that he will not draw attention. However, his mind conjures the possibility that Sungyoon might think that he’s being disrespectful again because he’s pretending not to see him and for not greeting those guys who look like they’re sunbaes as well.

This is the biggest dilemma of Jangjun’s life.

Sungyoon told him to know his place and don’t bother him. But then again, the reason Sungyoon got mad at Jangjun in the first place was because Jangjun didn’t greet him properly. He argues with himself for a while until finally deciding that he should just suck it up and greet them so Sungyoon can’t hold this against him in the future. Besides, he has to worm his way into Sungyoon’s heart, right? He might as well begin now. Jangjun is kind of hoping that Sungyoon will even be forced to be nice to him since there are other people around.

Taking a deep breath, Jangjun stands and deeply bows at them. Sungyoon’s friends stop talking, their attention suddenly drawn to Jangjun.

“Hello, sunbae-nims!” Jangjun respectfully greets. “I’m Lee Jangjun! I’m Sungyoon hyung-nim’s new roommate! Nice to meet you!”

Awkward silence is the only reply that he gets and Jangjun immediately regrets ever opening his mouth. He’s still in a bowing position, partly because he’s waiting for them to acknowledge him and partly because he’s too embarrassed to show them his face.

“Uh, hello…” someone tentatively says.

Finally gathering enough courage, Jangjun straightens up. Despite seeing the weirded out expressions of Sungyoon’s friends, Jangjun is determined to get them to like him, so he gives them a bright smile.

“Please take care of me,” Jangjun says, giving another respectful bow.

“Wait,” someone says.

Jangjun looks at the guy who spoke and he takes half a step back upon seeing him. The guy is very, very tall, well-built and has a strong facial bone structure. Jangjun is sure that the smile he has on his face is now quivering in intimidation.

“Sungyoon-ah,” tall guy says, “didn’t you say your roommate was a total prick?”

Jangjun’s face falls. This can’t be! Sungyoon couldn’t have already ruined his reputation this fast!

“Oh yeah! You said he was as just cocky as that other freshman before, right?” another of Sungyoon’s friends chimes in and Jangjun gets confused.

_What other freshman? Who are they comparing me with?_

“This is him?” tall guy interjected.

Jangjun stammers out some nonsense as tall guy approaches him with a disgusted expression as if he’s looking at a cockroach.

“Yeah,” Jangjun hears Sungyoon confirm.

“Well, we confirmed that he’s rude, alright. What’s your deal, huh? Cutting into people’s conversations like that...are you that much of an attention-seeker?” tall guy says.

Sungyoon’s friends laughs at that. This seems to inflate the ego of tall guy, so he continues to taunt Jangjun.

“Based on Sungyoon’s story of how rude you had been, I expected someone more…” tall guy gives Jangjun a once over, “...fitting. I’m disappointed, Sungyoon. I expected someone better than this."

The rest of the guys, including Sungyoon, laughs at that. Some of them even whistled and clapped in mirth.

“What, huh? What _‘this’_?!” Jangjun bites out, slowly getting riled up at how these guys are treating him.

He can’t just let this big oaf throw insults at him! His insults aren’t even good. They’re lame and basic. Jangjun can think of about a hundred other insults far more superior and witty, but he doesn’t want to sink down to their level. Yet.

“Oooh,” one of Sungyoons friends jeers, “Looks like you hit a nerve, Hyunchan-ah!"

The tall guy, who’s apparently named Hyunchan, ignores his friend and moves his ugly face closer to Jangjun in an attempt to intimidate him.

“A scrawny little bitch,” Hyunchan smirks.

Jangjun’s patience finally snaps. His vision swims and his ears are ringing at the sudden rush of adrenaline caused by his fury. 

“At least I’m not a giant oaf!” he finally yells. 

“What did you call me?!” 

“A GIANT OAF!” 

“Why you little—!” 

The next thing Jangjun knows is a huge fist is flying towards his face. Screwing his eyes shut, Jangjun prepares himself for the inevitable collision. But no punch landed on his face. Instead, he hears someone shouting and struggling, so he opens his eyes. To say that he is speechless at the scene before him would be an understatement. The still very angry Hyunchan is being single-handedly restrained by Sungyoon. Despite being much shorter, Sungyoon is actually doing a great job of preventing those meaty fists from mutilating Jangjun’s face. 

“Calm down!” Sungyoon shouts. 

“This bitch called me an oaf!” Hyunchan fumes. 

Hyunchan tries to stand up and break free from Sungyoon’s clutches. His large fists are flying everywhere in an attempt to reach Jangjun, but thankfully, Sungyoon is able to keep them from touching Jangjun. Their other friends are as dumbfounded as Jangjun. No one can blame them for not intervening, though, because Hyunchan is like a giant having a tantrum, and what Sungyoon is doing right now could possibly be life-threatening. Being hit by gigantic fists is undoubtedly lethal. But Sungyoon blows his mind even more the moment he manages to tackle and pin Hyunchan down on the ground in one swift movement. This is the moment Jangjun becomes uncertain whether he should fear Hyunchan or Sungyoon more. 

“STOP IT!” Sungyoon bellows. 

The sudden outburst of his quiet roommate makes Jangjun flinch. The others aren’t faring any better. Their mouths are all hanging open and some of them may even have drool dribbling out. 

“It’s not worth it,” Sungyoon says through gritted teeth.

Giving the giant one last hard look, Sungyoon finally loosens his grip and begins to stand up. Jangjun internally panics, fearing that Hyunchan might try to attack him again. Thankfully, the shuttle to the town’s center finally arrives. A handful of students are alighting from the shuttle and they all threw inquisitive looks at Hyunchan who is still laying on the ground. The daze that Sungyoon’s friends are in breaks and they are now helping Hyunchan stand up. Within seconds, they file inside the shuttle one by one. Hyunchan, however, turns to look back at Jangjun and opens his mouth. 

“I’m not yet done with you,” Hyunchan threatens.

Even before Hyunchan can say anything else, Sungyoon pushes him inside the shuttle, leaving Jangjun there as the doors automatically close. The shuttle drives away and disappears into the horizon, but all Jangjun can think about is how Sungyoon kept Hyunchan from beating him up to a pulp.

_Doesn’t he hate me?_

Right at that moment, a small smile appears on Jangjun’s face.

_Maybe Sungyoon isn’t that bad, after all._

Call him crazy, call him an idiot, but he’s going to believe whatever it is that makes him feel a little better about this disastrous day. In spite this minuscule glimmer of hope, things are still mostly bad, if not worse. After this incident, he doesn’t only have Sungyoon hating on him, he now has Hyunchan to worry about as well. Because of this new realization, Jangjun’s appetite dwindles, so he decides to just abandon the thought of exploring the town’s center for food. Instead, he gloomily trails back inside the campus, his footsteps heavy as he walks all the way back to the dorms. A few students are hanging out on the couches in the lobby with their friends while some of his fellow freshmen are just arriving now and are talking to Jinah at the frontdesk. They’re probably here to claim their dorm keys, because Jangjun overhears some of them excitedly introducing themselves to one another. He enviously looks on as two of the freshmen seem to be vibrating with excitement as they talk. 

“I know how to cook! I can cook dinner for us tonight if you come with me to the grocery store to buy ingredients!” 

“Of course, I will! I’m so lucky my roommate can feed me!” 

Walking up the stairs, Jangjun dejectedly looks back on his life before entering this university. Junpyo had been right all along when he said that college will be much different from high school not just because the competition and pressure to do well here is higher, but also because people mostly keep to themselves, so making friends will be a bit of a challenge. Back in high school, Jangjun was one of the popular kids. He would even boldly claim that he is probably the most-liked person there. Although he has two really, really close and trusted friends, he believes that he’s friends with almost everyone. It’s hard not to accept Jangjun’s friendship because virtually no one can resist his bubbly and bright personality. Students naturally flock around him like bees to the most vibrant flower in the garden or like piranhas to a piece of meat (okay, maybe that last comparison is weird, but you get the picture). Even though he’s a bit loud and can get too rowdy sometimes, Jangjun’s reputation is commendable even to the teachers. He was never one of the top students but he’s responsible enough with homework and projects, and he never failed any exam. Sure, there are some teachers who thought he was just an annoying suck up, but they eventually fell for his charms in the end. Jangjun even had a fanclub in high school. Like a legit fanclub with legit human beings as members who held him at a pedestal as if he’s some celebrity. He would always deny the existence of this fanclub when he was in school, but outside school, he proudly boasted about it to Junpyo and to whoever will listen in the mansion every chance he got. Now, those great experiences with his high school social life are the reasons why he finds it so hard to just accept his current situation. Jangjun is determined to fix it and get them to like him. 

Once he’s in front of his dorm, the sun is already setting, so the hallway is now lit with artificial yellow lights. He starts to think about how he’s going to apologize to Sungyoon once again about what happened back at the waiting shed. Even if Jangjun didn’t really do anything wrong, he thinks he should apologize, anyway. It’s a first step towards his goal to make them his friends. The other steps will follow, but for now, all Jangjun wants to do is to lay down, forget the world and just sleep. 

But the universe has other plans to fuck with him some more. 

The key to the dorm is not in his pockets and it is not in his wallet either. Jangjun lets out a frustrated groan and attempts to push the door open, but to no avail because the damn thing automatically locks once the door shuts close! He tries to turn the knob once again, but it really isn’t budging. 

“Fine. Fucking fine! I’m just gonna wait for my lovely roommate!” 

Before sliding down to slump on the floor, Jangjun gives the door a vicious kick. Five minutes into his latest misery, Jangjun feels his phone buzz in his back pocket, indicating that he received a new message. His mood lightens up a little upon seeing that there are new messages in the BaeJangTag group chat. His two best friends finally remember him!

**TAG:** _Jangjunnie hyung~?_

**BAE:** _I think he’s not yet online… T^T_

**TAG:** _Do you think he has internet over there? : < _

**BAE:** _Of course!_

**BAE:** _It’s just Incheon, not the Amazon!_

**TAG:** _Probably having too much fun with his new friends...knowing him, he already replaced us by now -___-_

Jangjun pouts at that. If only Youngtaek knows what he’s been through for the past few hours! If only making friends here is as easy as making friends in high school!

**JANG:** _I know you miss me already (v^3^)v_

**TAG:** _Hyung!!!!!!_

**BAE:** _Is it nice there?!?!!????? Show us your dorm, hyung!!_

**TAG:** _Did you make friends and replaced us already???_

**JANG:** _Yes, hyung made lots and lots and lotsssss of friends already. The people here love me and they said I’m cute and handsome and sexy. You’ve been replaced the moment I stepped foot on the campus property! Everyone wants to be Jjangjjyunni’s friend :P_

**BAE:** _Eyyy, don’t be so full of yourself, hyung!_

**TAG:** _Yeah, don’t flatter yourself! Bet they find you too noisy hahaha!_

**BAE:** _Don’t get kicked out too soon, hyung! Our life is already quiet and peaceful here!_

Jangjun’s thumbs blankly hover on the keyboard of his phone not because he cannot think of a witty comeback but because his eyes are already wet with tears. He knows that he’s becoming really, really dramatic and emotional, and he hates it. Jangjun hates crying because it just doesn’t suit him, but he just misses his two best friends so, so, so much right now. Just talking to them like this—even if they’re teasing him—is so nice compared to what he’s been through today. Jangjun wishes they are all the same ages so they can attend university together and share the dorm together instead.

**BAE:** _How’s your dorm, hyung? Is it spacious?? :O_  


Seungmin’s message pulls Jangjun out of his thoughts and he smiles through his tears as he types his reply. He can imagine his small friend’s curious expression behind that message bubble.

**JANG:** _Not quite as big as what I’m used to back home, but I like it! It’s cozy! b(^o^)d_

**TAG:** _Did they actually give you a whole flat to yourself, hyung?_

**BAE:** _It’s nicer to have a roommate! My noona said you’ll earn an instant friend that way._

_Instant friend, huh? More like an instant bully._

Jangjun doesn’t reply for a while because even though they are his best friends whom he can tell everything to, he doesn’t want them to know how dreadful his first day at the university went. He gets too busy typing something else in an attempt to change the subject, but right at that moment, Youngtaek starts a video call. Jangjun accidentally clicks the accept button and before he knows it, the Youngtaek’s and Seungmin’s faces are on his screen.

“Hel~looooo!!!” Jangjun greets in his obnoxiously loud and cheerful voice while slapping on his trademark grin.

Their faces are squished together as they lean in too close to the front camera. Their silly expressions make Jangjun completely forget that he’s pathetically slumped on the poorly lit hallway floor while cheeks are covered with tears, and his eyes and nose are red because of crying. When Seungmin and Youngtaek look at him worriedly, he’s a little confused.

“Hyung, have you been crying? Where are you?” Seungmin finally voices out.

“Huh?” Jangjun utters but soon realizes what they’re talking about. “Oh, no, no, no, uh…I’m just chilling...outside the dorm...”

Jangjun hastily wipes his face with the back of his hand and gives them another wide smile, “And no! Me, crying? Tch! No, I was just...sneezing! It’s pretty chilly here! I think I caught a cold!”

Youngtaek and Seungmin exchange worried looks at that.

“Hyung, it’s pretty much still summer, you know,” Youngtaek points out.

“Well, it’s cold up here!” Jangjun fires back.

“Hyung, you know you can tell us anything, right? Is everything okay? Are you okay?” Seungmin says.

Jangjun opens his mouth to feed them another excuse but the look on their slightly pixelated faces tells him that he cannot weasel his way out of this. Jangjun still gets surprised from time to time at how well they know him. But then again, what else can he expect? The three of them grew up together after all. Pouting and sulking a little because he got caught, Jangjun finally opens up about what happened in the past hours.

“Well, the school has a policy that if you’re part of a school’s sports team, you have to share a room with someone from your team to build camaraderie or something. My roommate, who is also a part of the baseball team, hates me,” he reveals.

“What? Already?! What did you do, hyung?” Youngtaek says, voice loud and high.

Seungmin elbows him sharply. “Jangjunnie hyung, hate is a strong word! I’m sure your roommate doesn’t hate you!”

“I’m not exaggerating! He really does hate me!” Jangjun says and he proceeds to tell them that afternoon’s events from the moment Sungyoon enters their dorm to the little bullying incident that happened at the shuttle waiting shed. But he makes sure not to leave out the part when Sungyoon kept Hyunchan from punching him because he also wants to know what his friends think about that.

By the time he’s done telling them the whole series of events, he’s crying a little bit again. There’s just something about sharing all this to Seungmin and Youngtaek that that’s so comforting and it makes him feel so emotional.

“...and I just feel so wronged, you know!” Jangjun sobs. “I know I made a mistake by assuming that he was the same age as me, but I already apologized and even told him I wanted us to be close and be friends. I just don’t see why he and his friends would treat me that way. Why are they so mean? I’m so scared to go to sleep later because what if I wake up without my head, or my arms, or my legs? What if they drag me to the ocean in my sleep? How am I supposed to train with these people?!”

Youngtaek and Seungmin are speechless. This is their first time seeing their very bright and bubbly hyung like this. He’s usually very optimistic, so hearing him spew all those negative thoughts out really breaks their hearts. Those guys must’ve really affected him so much.

“I want to go home,” Jangjun concludes, sniffling as he wipes his tears again.

“Hyung, I’m sorry this happened to you,” Seungmin says.

“Yeah, I truly feel bad for you. Those guys are assholes, but you can’t just give up like this!” Youngtaek says.

“You’re Lee Jangjun!” Seumin adds. 

“And Lee Jangjun is nothing if not Mister Congeniality!” Youngtaek continues.

“Uh-huh! You can make anyone your friend, hyung!” Seungmin encourages.

“Didn’t you make Miss Song smile more than once?!” Youngtaek reminds him. “She’s the foulest teacher in our high school, but she has a soft spot for you, remember?”

“Yeah, no one can be worse than Miss Song, so I’m sure you can make your roommate and the rest of your teammates like you too!"

“Didn’t your roommate defend you when that Hyunchan guy wanted to punch you? I’m sure that’s something to hold on to,” Youngtaek concludes.

“Right,” Jangjun breathes out, wiping his tears away one last time.

“Even animals like you, hyung!” Seungmin cheerfully chirps.

“Yeah, they do!” Jangjun agrees as he finally cracks a smile. It’s small, but it’s genuine.

“See? Just do what you do best and I bet they’ll be your best friends in no time!” Youngtaek says.

Jangjun laughs, thankful that his friends believes in him so much. Their optimism is contagious and Jangjun suddenly feels more positive that he can really pull off ‘Operation make-Sungyoon-my-best-friend’.

“Thanks for cheering me up, guys! I feel like I can conquer the university now!”

Jangjun is grinning so wide and bright now that Youngtaek and Seungmin can’t help but return it with the same enthusiasm.

They talk more for a couple of hours before Seungmin gets a call from his mother, asking him to come home already. They say their farewells and promise one another that they’ll video chat again soon. Now that Jangjun is alone once again in the long empty hallway of their dorm, his mood goes down a tiny notch because he really misses home. He doesn’t get to dwell much in this thought, however, because soon enough, Sungyoon shows up. Jangjun hurriedly stands up, bowing to Sungyoon in greeting. He doesn’t dare open his mouth in case doing so will bring even more misunderstanding between them. Jangjun keeps his head low while waiting for Sungyoon to open the door. Hearing the door click open, he follows Sungyon inside their dorm. When the door automatically locks behind him, he dreadfully waits for Sungyoon to threaten him again.

But it didn’t come.

Sungyoon goes straight into their room only to emerge after a few seconds with his towel and some clothes. When the bathroom door finally shuts close and the sound of running water starts, Jangjun lets out the breath he’s been holding. 

•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_• 

Despite having zero cooking skills, Jangjun still went on a little trip to the 24-hour grocery store at the town’s center during the wee hours of the morning to buy the ingredients of the breakfast he was going to prepare for Sungyoon and him. There were no shuttles during that time, so Jangjun walked. It was at least a fifteen-minute walk to get to the center, but he doesn’t mind. He could use a little exercise to jumpstart the school year after all. At the grocery, he bought fruits like bananas, apples, raspberries and strawberries to fill their fridge. Jangjun also got a couple cartons of pure orange juice and milk for drinks. More importantly, he bought eggs, bacon, bread, and some random pancake mix that he thought would taste good and be easy to make. Of course, he also bought rice! He can’t live with rice and he’s sure that Sungyoon also loves rice. Who doesn’t love rice, right?

The sun is not yet up when he made it back at their dorm. It’s quiet and still, so he deduces that Sungyoon is still asleep. Humming, Jangjun starts making breakfast for the two of them. Roughly fifteen minutes later, he has two sunny-side ups and some strips of bacon on their small dining table. Cooking rice is still a little tricky to Jangjun, so he made some toasts with butter instead. He’ll just call Chef Park later to ask what’s the perfect ratio of water to rice, so they can have rice for dinner.

Just as Jangjun takes the silly apron off, the door to their room opens. Sungyoon marches out still half-asleep with clumps of his dark hair sticking out here and there.

“Good morning!” Jangjun enthusiastically greets.

His loud voice seems to startle Sungyoon a little and at the same time, wake him up properly. Sungyoon looks up and stoically stares at Jangjun’s cheerful face for a moment.

“I made breakfast for us, hyung-nim!” Jangjun adds as he gestures to the table. “Let’s eat first, then maybe we can walk to our classes together? I’m still not sure about the buildings here, so I’m scared that I might get lost. Maybe you can show me around?”

Sungyoon simply glances at the table before wordlessly walking to the bathroom. Jangjun’s smile falters a little, but he shrugs it off.

“Maybe he likes to shower before having breakfast,” Jangjun says. “Oh, well, I’ll eat my share first, then.”

Except Jangjun was wrong. Sungyoon gets out of the bathroom, quickly gets dressed, and heads out of the door without even eating a single bite and without even saying a word to him. Jangjun’s smile completely falls off at that because Sungyoon completely acted as if he didn’t exist. His blood pressure slightly goes up in irritation. He worked really hard to make that breakfast despite his lack of skills. Not to mention he also woke up before sunrise just to personally buy the ingredients from the grocery. 

Jangjun inhales deeply and exhales slowly to calm himself down.

“Roommate is being difficult,” Jangjun says to himself, smiling stiffly as he cleans up the table. “Just you wait. You won’t be able to live without me in no time.”

•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•

The day is passing by quickly for Jangjun and before he knows it, half the day is already gone. So far, his classes are really interesting and his professors are quite passionate about their respective subjects. Some of them seem really strict and intimidating, but Jangjun managed to get two of them to remember his name already because he made sure to introduce himself in a fun and unique way. In one class, he rapped his favorite poem verses from a classical author who has the same name as him. In another class, the teacher asked them to make a haiku about their interests and Jangjun made his really witty and flowery, so the teacher really remembered him. His classmates seem to have liked him as well. None of them had been as mean as Sungyoon and his friends. On the contrary, they were really eager to talk and befriend him, making Jangjun ecstatic. He felt like he was back in high school where everyone wants to be his friend.

As he lines up to order his food, Jangjun can’t wipe the smile off his face. Several people from his previous class greeted and smiled at him already. It’s so refreshing and elating to finally have people acknowledge him after two days of being ignored by Sungyoon.

Speaking of his roommate, Jangjun gasps when he spots his familiar figure at the far corner of the cafeteria. At first, Jangjun is bewildered when he realizes that Sungyoon is eating alone, but he soon sees this as an opportunity for him to get closer to the older. His feet automatically march towards the table of the lone boy and within seconds, Jangjun is sliding on the chair next to Sungyoon.

“Hello, hyung-nim!” Jangjun greets. “I hope you don’t mind me joining you!”

Sungyoon glances at him for a second but doesn’t say anything in response.

“Why are you sitting here all by yourself? Where are your friends? Where’s big bad Hyunchan sunbae-nim?” Jangjun asks as he starts to dig in his lunch.

Jangjun asked that because he’s genuinely curious, but Sungyoon seems to take it the wrong way. As usual.

“Are you mocking me?” Sungyoon grits out.

“What?” Jangjun panics. “Not at all, hyung-nim! I was just wondering. I’m sorry if that didn’t sound right!”

Sungyoon doesn’t say anything in reply and simply continues to eat.

“Hyung-nim, how has your day been? Are your professors nice?” Jangjun pushes the one-sided conversation.

When Sungyoon continues to answer him with silence, Jangjun decides to start telling him about his day instead. Doing so might encourage Sungyoon to open up about his day.

“My teachers are really nice so far! They seem really knowledgeable of the subjects they’re teaching. I made great impressions too when I introduced myself and I think my classmates like me too!”

Jangjun pauses to take a spoonful of curry rice in his mouth.

“Mhm, this curry is delicious!” Jangjun exclaims with his mouth full. “Anyway, the workload seem manageable at the moment and I’m really thankful because I don’t want it to interfere with my performance in the baseball team. Speaking of baseball team, hyung-nim, when is the first practice session?”

Again, Sungyoon doesn’t answer.

“I’m really nervous because I think I kind of slacked off with exercising over the summer. I’m worried that my skills will be rusty and coach will get mad. Is he strict? Is—”

Jangjun’s rambling is cut off when Sungyoon shoves his earphones in his ears and plays music so loud that Jangjun can hear it vaguely.

“Eyy, hyung-nim, don’t be like this. I’m still talking,” Jangjun says as he pushes his face into Sungyoon’s line of vision.

He flashes a huge smile at Sungyoon, but the older harshly shoves his face away. Jangjun pouts.

“Hyung-nim~”

Jangjun tries to take an earbud out, but the moment he extends his arms to reach for it, his hand knocks over Sungyoon’s drink off the table. The steaming black coffee spills all over Sungyoon’s lap, staining his jeans and scorching the skin beneath it. Ripping the earbuds out and standing up in alarm, Sungyoon lets out a loud yelp. This effectively catches the attention of everyone in the cafeteria.

“I’m so sorry, hyung-nim! I’m so sorry!” Jangjun frantically apologizes.

In his panic, Jangjun tries to wipe the coffee stain off with his bare hands. This, of course, infuriates Sungyoon even more.

“JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!” Sungyoon shouts.

Jangjun is harshly pushed away and lands flat on his butt on the floor. Sungyoon gathers his things and storms out of the cafeteria, all eyes following him. When he’s gone, the people’s attention shifts to Jangjun. But he doesn’t even care about what these people are thinking because he messed up again.

_Ah, I just annoyed him even more!_

•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•

After the incident at the cafeteria, Jangjun doesn’t dare approach Sungyoon anymore even though the older continues to eat all by himself. Whenever they’re in the dorm together, Jangjun tries his best to stay put in one area, so he doesn’t do further damage to their already damned friendship (if they even had one to begin with). He’s a little scared of Sungyoon now, to be honest. If he was really determined to befriend him before, Jangjun just wants to avoid crossing him now. You can’t really blame him because he watched Sungyoon single-handedly tackle giant and meaty Hyunchan to the ground. He doesn’t know what else Sungyoon is capable of and he prefers not to be the one to uncover it.

To make matters more discouraging, the people in his class who seemed to like him on the first day seemed to have changed their minds after witnessing the coffee spill incident. Whenever Jangjun greets or merely waves at them, they would either respond awkwardly or just pretend they didn’t notice him. Turns out that Sungyoon is really popular among many freshmen, especially those who are fans of the university’s baseball team. Jangjun publicly spilling that steaming hot coffee on Sungyoon was social suicide. The only thing that’s making it bearable is the fact that the adults still like him.

Or maybe not.

It’s Saturday, so Jangjun gets to sleep in for a couple more hours, but he was rudely awakened by Jinah’s loud voice. The woman was yelling for him to get his ass up and running towards the baseball field or Coach Jung would skin him alive. Jinah looked really mad that Jangjun didn’t dare question her anymore, so now, still in his half-asleep state, he finally arrives at the baseball field. A group of guys, probably the baseball team, are running laps around the field and among them, Jangjun spots Sungyoon.

“Lee Jangjun!”

Turning his head towards the sound of his name, Jangjun sees a livid-looking Coach Jung beckoning him with his finger. He gulps and jogs to where the man is. 

“Good morning, Coach Jung,” Jangjun tentatively says, bowing in greetings.

“Morning?! Do you have any idea what time is it?!” Coach Jung spats.

Wide-eyed and still very much confused, Jangjun simply stares while shaking his head. This is just the second time that he’s meeting Coach Jung, but Jangjun is really finding it hard to match it to the very kind man who scouted him months ago. This Coach Jung looks like he’s going to chew Jangjun’s head off his body.

“It’s already 10!” Coach Jung yells.

“I-It’s still morning, then, C-Coach…” Jangjun says, smiling warily.

The moment he utters that sassy reply, Jangjun hears someone wince. He looks over and sees that the whole baseball team stopped doing laps around the field and are now gawking at him. To his horror, Jangjun sees Hyunchan standing beside Sungyoon. Like a bucket of cold water, it dawns on him that the members of the team are the same guys that Sungyoon’s with that night at the shuttle waiting shed.

“Lee Jangjun, I do not tolerate disrespect in this team!”

Jangjun jumps in surprise when Coach Jung yells again.

“I’m sorry, Coach,” Jangjun bows.

“Do you have any valid reason for skipping all three practices this week?!”

Jangjun frowns in confusion.

“Practices?” Jangjun says.

“If I didn’t call Jinah to get you here, were you planning to skip this one too?! Do you think you’re better than everyone else just because you got in without trying out?!”

_What?_

“C-Coach Jung, I’m sorry but I wasn’t aware of the practices!” Jangjun says.

Instead of calming Coach Jung, he looks even more furious upon hearing that.

“Don’t give me that crap, Lee!” Coach Jung shouts.

“Coach, I’m telling the truth, I didn’t kno—”

“All practices are announced through the team’s group chat, so if you weren’t checking that, it’s your own fault!” Coach Jung cuts him off.

Oh. A group chat, huh? It’s clear to Jangjun now why he didn’t know about the training schedules. If _these_ people are the members of the team, it’s no surprise that he was kept in the dark. They didn’t even add him in any group chat.

“But I didn’t even know there’s a group chat!” Jangjun objects. 

“What? I told Sungyoon to add you in the group chat,” Coach Jung says. 

He turns to Sungyoon and Jangjun does the same, “Did you add him?” 

“Yes, Coach,” Sungyoon unwaveringly lies. 

Jangjun looks at him in disbelief. 

“Seeing that you have no valid excuse for missing the practices,” Coach Jung speaks again, “you’re on probation.” 

“What? But Coach! I...I’m sorry! But I—" 

His protests are immediately shut down when Coach Jung raises his big hairy hand. “You’re on probation and that’s final. In the next practices, if you’re late for even a second, you can say goodbye to your position in this team and to your scholarship.” 

Jangjun knows that he should let Coach Jung know about his problem with Sungyoon and how the team is purposely ostracising him because of it. But he knows that doing so will just cause the team to hate him even more, so he keeps his mouth shut and accepts his fate. 

“We’re done for today,” Coach Jung announces to the rest of the team. 

Without saying another word to Jangjun, Coach Jung walks away. When he’s out of earshot, Hyunchan steps forward and sneers at Jangjun. 

“I was expecting you to get kicked out right away, but getting you on probation seems much better,” he taunts. 

“One mistake and you’re out,” another guy says. 

Hyunchan walks over to him and roughly ruffles Jangjun’s hair causing Jangjun to hiss and push his hand away. 

“Oh, you better behave, kid,” Hyunchan mocks, “or I’ll tell coach you’re causing trouble.” 

The rest of the team are gleefully laughing now and Jangjun feels like crying in anger. 

“Let’s go eat somewhere. My treat!” Hyunchan declares as he finally leaves Jangjun alone. 

The guys cheer at that and they start to trickle out of the baseball field. Sungyon is among the last ones to leave, and Jangjun uses this opportunity to finally confront him. 

“Sungyoon hyung-nim,” Jangjun tearfully says as he blocks Sungyoon’s path. “You didn’t add me to the group chat! Why didn’t you add me to the group chat? Why did you lie to Coach?" 

“The answer is simple. No one likes you, Jangjun-ah,” Sungyoon condescendingly says. “No one wants you in this team or in this university.” 

When he doesn’t get any reply, Sungyoon pushes pass him and rejoins the others. In his pathetic sleeping clothes and disheveled state, Jangjun stands there and thinks about how he would really, really, really just want to go back home. 


End file.
